These are the ones who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These were redeemed from humanity as firstfruits to God and to the Lamb, and no lie was found on their lips; they are blameless.
Revelation 14:4-5 NET
Revelation 14:1-5 is a passage that could be titled “The Song of the Redeemed.” John looked and saw the Lamb standing on Mt. Zion. And with him are 144 thousand virgins, first described in Revelation 7:3-8. In both places, they are described as bearing the seal of God on their foreheads.
Then John heard a sound like harpists playing. And the 144,000 were singing a new song before the throne of God. A song that only those who had been redeemed from the earth could learn.
Then, we are given a description of these 144,000. They are virgins who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were redeemed as first fruits to God. And they are blameless.
So, how should we understand these descriptive terms? Especially that they were virgins? Does it refer only to men who have never had sexual relations with women? Or does it symbolize something else?
In 2 Kings 19:21, Isaiah 37:22, and Lamentations 2:13, Israel is described as “Virgin Daughter Zion.” The reference here is not to the individual sexual purity of the people. Rather, it refers to the nation as a whole, a people pledged to be married to God.
In 2 Corinthians 11:2, Paul refers to the church at Corinth as a pure virgin promised to Christ as her husband. And Revelation 19:6-8 proclaims that the wedding of the Lamb had come and his bride had made herself ready.
So it seems likely that these pictured in Revelation 14:1-5 are Christ’s pure and holy bride. A bride who follows the Lamb wherever he goes (John 10:2-4), who are the first fruits of the earth (2 Th. 2:13, Jam. 1:18), and who are blameless before him (Eph. 5:27).
